· Strong performance against the best team in the West and maybe the best team in the NBA.
· Jazz were really good from the beginning. They had only 1 turnover in the first 8 minutes. They scored on 7 of their first 8 possessions. The Thunder over shift and force you into making the smart play time and time and time again and the Jazz did that early in the first quarter.
· Then the Jazz lost their baring’s for a while but impressively they regained and stayed right with the Thunder till their were about 3 minutes left in the game.
· The Thunder are pretty amazing at 35-7, but they have a few weakness and without Holnmgren and Harkenstein one of them is the defensive rebounding and the Jazz dominated the glass tonight with 23 offensive rebounds. Walker Kessler has become a beast. He is dominating games on the offensive glass. He is finishing better around the rim. He is having a major impact every night.
· The turnovers were an issue again. This is what the Thunder do. They are #1 in the NBA at forcing turnover. Their pick and roll defense is dramatically better than the rest of the league. The Jazz tried and tried on some of their pick and roll action and the turnovers followed too many times.
· Lu Dort on Lauri Markkanen eliminated a lot of what Lauri could do off the ball. Late the Jazz kept trying to Dort off of Lauri and had a hard time finding a way to get him free.
· Keyonte George and Isaiah Collier are getting better every night. They both got worn out tonight. The lesson will be how much energy and effort it takes to battle a team this good. Keyonte was noticeable bothered by things which was a sign of exhaustion and just being hastled all night and the same for Collier. They will be both be better because of tonight.
· The defensive combination of Cason Wallace and Alex Caruso is something else.
· Shai was unreal. Career high 54 tonight. The Jazz actually defended him ok in the first half and were making him make shot over the top. In the second half he started a parade to the line and started to get where he wanted to get to on the floor. Again, he is just relentless. The Thunder just keep coming at you on both ends of the floor and makes it so difficult to stay engaged for 48 minutes.
· The return of Lauri Markkanen and John Collins made a huge difference tonight.
· The Thunder win so many battles on the edges and in the margins. They have a set play they run out of free throws and they scored all 4 times they ran it. These little edges matter so much.
· Last time the Thunder took a 100 shots and the Jazz took 72. Tonight it was closer the Thunder had 95 (with 25 free throws) and the Jazz took 90 (with 24 free throws)
· Loved the overall effort tonight. The Thunder are a massive run waiting to happen at any moment with their defense and their ability to turn people over. The Jazz didn’t trail by 10 till the final 3 minutes of the game and they were right with the Thunder every step of the way. The game had 16 lead changes and 14 ties.
